Dareus will miss two games

Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus will miss two games and must pay almost $1,800 in restitution for improp­er contact with an agent, the NCAA announced Thursday. Dareus made two trips to Mi­ami, according to an NCAA re­lease, and received improper benefits that included airfare, lodging, meals and transporta­tion. The junior will miss Satur­day’s season opener against San Jose State and next week’s game against Penn State. He also has to pay $1,787.17 to the charity of his choice. “We respect the decision, but we are at the same time disap­pointed in the suspension,” Ala­bama coach Nick Saban said in a statement. “Hopefully, Marcell and all involved have learned a valuable lesson from this.” The NCAA, according to Ala­bama compliance director Mike Ward, said Dareus “was one of the most truthful student-ath­letes we have ever interviewed.” The NCAA said Dareus could have been suspended for as many as four games. Continue Reading >>

A long way to San Jose

San Jose State has never beaten an SEC team and likely won’t break that trend against No. 1 Alabama on Saturday. The Spartans were just 2-10 a year ago, including a 1-7 mark in the Western Athletic Conference. They are 0-3 against the SEC, suffering a pair of beatdowns at the hands of Florida (59-21 in 1991 and 65-3 in 2003) and a narrow 29-21 loss to LSU in 1999. Alabama, meanwhile, is 91-21-3 all-time in openers, including a 3-0 mark under current coach Nick Saban. San Jose State is the 54th different opening day opponent for Alabama. The Tide opened the week as a 39-point favorite over the Spartans. Just don’t tell Saban. Continue Reading >>

Heisman Winner Ingram Out With Knee Injury

Alabama will be without junior running back Mark Ingram for Saturday’s opener against visiting San Jose State, and probably longer, after the Heisman Trophy winner underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday morning. Ingram suffered the injury late in Monday’s practice, and Alabama coach Nick Saban said it was a “situation where everyone thought it would be better to take care of now, so he would not have any issues with it later in the season.” Although Alabama officials are ruling Ingram out only for the first game at this point, it’s unlikely he would be able to get back in time for the Crimson Tide’s second game, against No. 19 Penn State on Sept. 11 in Tuscaloosa. Saban said Ingram would be managed on a week-to-week basis after Saturday. “We will make every decision on the future based on what’s best for Mark and his career as we consult with Dr. [Lyle] Cain and Dr. [James] Andrews on his progress,” Saban said. “This is not an injury that will affect Mark’s future ability to make a full recovery in a relatively short time.” Continue Reading >>

Nothing wrong with a Nick Saban statue

There have been many bizarre reactions to Nick Saban and Alabama’s 13th national championship since last January. However, the most ridiculous has been the over-the-top and borderline insane reaction to Mal Moore’s very appropriate decision to honor the coach with a statue on the Wall of Champions outside Bryant-Denny Stadium. There are four other bronzed statues outside the stadium — Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Bear Bryant and Gene Stallings. And they all have one thing in common with Saban other than coaching at Alabama: They’ve won a national championship. So why not honor Alabama’s current coach while it can be enjoyed by fans, family and friends? Why not celebrate now when it can have the maximum impact? Makes a lot of sense. However, if you have been keeping up with media’s irrational reaction since it was first announced, one would have thought the school had taken Bryant and Denny’s name off the stadium sign and plastered Saban’s name up in bright lights. [More]

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Hightower now a better player

Dont’a Hightower’s answer included a pause that hung in the air like a wobbly pass waiting to be picked off. Alabama’s middle linebacker was asked if, 11 months after reconstructive knee surgery, he felt like he was back to the level he was before his 2009 season was cut short in the Arkansas game. “No,” he replied, then waited several uncomfortable counts before adding, “I think I’ve surpassed that. “I feel like a totally different player. I feel like I play a lot faster, recognize things a lot quicker. That year off let me get in the film room and learn the defense, the ins and outs, why exactly we do this instead of this.” Hightower’s ability to run the defense is crucial for Alabama. His move to the middle replaces Butkus Award winner Rolando McClain. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban credited Hightower with learning the new position even as he recovered from the injury. “Dont’a has really done well, considering the circumstances,” Saban said. “He is in a new role as a signal-caller. That’s a greater responsibility, a little more responsibility for leadership. He’s really done a good job with that. Continue Reading >>

Judgement day approaches as first game nears

All the evasive depth chart talk is quickly coming to an end for Nick Saban. With just a week before opening the season against San Jose State, all of the experimenting and tweaking is about to end. And Saban isn’t downplaying how important the decisions are. “I think this is kind of judgment day for us,” he said Thursday. “We have to at least make some kind of determinations now, and we haven’t done that yet, as to who we want to coach, what we want to do. Are we going to play guys? Are we not going to play them? Are they going to get ready to play? Because you can’t get enough reps in practice to get everybody ready to play. “It’s a little bit D-Day — judgment day.” That means a lot for a few players who’ve been shuffled in and out of different jobs this August. “The thing that has been most difficult through this camp is when you have a new group and you have a lot of guys that haven’t played, and really that gets some continuity in practice about guys playing together,” Saban said. “We have continually had two or three guys out and haven’t been able to do that. Saying all that, I’m really pleased with the progress that we’ve made.” Continue Reading >>

Organizations collaborating to handle unscrupulous agents

Cooperation among several organizations collaborating on ideas to better handle the problem of unscrupulous agents inducing student-athletes into NCAA violations has been strong, University of Alabama coach Nick Saban said Thursday. At Saban’s behest, multiple conference calls have been held that included college coaches, NCAA representatives, agents, and representatives of the National Football League and the NFL Players Association. “We’ve had several conference calls and we have really gotten good cooperation from every group,” said Saban, noting that the American Football Coaches Association has also been involved in the discussions. The NCAA is currently investigating potential violations related to contact with agents among several college football players, including Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus. Saban said the NCAA has yet to issue a ruling on the junior from Birmingham. Continue Reading >>

Richardson and Jones likely to return kicks

For the first time in years, opposing kickoffs and punts won’t be falling into the hands of No. 28 this fall at the University of Alabama. And filling the return void left by Javier Arenas, it would appear, will require more than one player. UA running back Trent Richardson is likely to replace Arenas on kickoff returns, while Julio Jones is in position to handle punt return duty. “Both of them have the most experience doing it, having both been backups last year. Julio had a couple of opportunities on punt return. I think Trent had a couple on kickoff return,” said UA coach Nick Saban. “They’ve had the most experience. They’ve had reps in practice.” Others in competition for the punt return role include wide receivers Darius Hanks and Marquis Maze. As a four-year starter on punt returns, Arenas graduated from UA as the most prolific punt returner in both school and Southeastern Conference history. Jones served as Arenas’ lead blocker on kickoff returns, and figures to handle the same role in front of Richardson this season. Still, Saban said younger players are being developed as return specialists as well. Continue Reading >>

NFF to honor Gene Stallings

Former University of Alabama coach Gene Stallings will be honored by the National Football Foundation in Tuscaloosa on the weekend of the Crimson Tide’s Oct. 2 home game against Florida. The NFF announced May 27 that Stallings would be part of the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2010 induction class. “From his years as a young assistant coach under Coach (Bear) Bryant through his head coaching days here at Alabama, Coach Stallings produced a career that is richly deserving of this recognition,” UA Director of Athletics Mal Moore said. “Coach Stallings was more than just a head coach at Alabama — his manner of doing things, his leadership and his passion took our entire program to another level.” Stallings led the Crimson Tide to the national championship with a 13-0 season in 1992, and had a 28-game win streak during his years as coach from 1990-1996. A commemorative plaque will be presented to the university for permanent display in what the NFF calls an “on-campus salute.” Continue Reading >>

Saban on the screen, but not in the theater

Terry Saban. Nicholas Saban. Kristen Saban. Mal Moore. That’s just a partial list of the VIP’s scheduled to be at the Carmike Summit tonight for the world premiere of “Nick Saban: Gamechanger.” There’s one dignitary, a man who plays a rather large role in the film, who’s not planning to attend. It’s the title character himself. Nick Saban. Hey, this is the same guy who, as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, wouldn’t grab a bite at Joe’s Stone Crab with the president of the United States, George W. Bush, during training camp. In this state, the closer a head coach gets to the first game, the more closed off he’s supposed to be. If he’s shaking hands in a receiving line, he’s not drawing up plays. If he’s watching a movie, he’s not studying film. They filmed it before, during and after the 2009 national championship season. I mean, c’mon. What are the odds? You’re a football coach, and you green-light a film about your life, and you enjoy perhaps the greatest season of your life? You become the first coach in the modern era to win a second national title with a second school? Continue Reading >>

New stadium renovations may help young kickers

When the University of Alabama Athletic Department first began the early planning stages of the Bryant-Denny Stadium expansion project in 2007, none could have known for certain the Crimson Tide would be breaking in a new kicker in 2010. Or even be sure, for that matter, that 2010 would be the debut season for the venue’s swell to 101,821 seats. But the timing for both could be ideal, if the newly-built South end zone project reduces winds in the stadium as both veteran kickers and science itself suggest. The new project essentially bowls in the entire stadium, which will block winds that may have previously blown unabated from the south. And for inexperienced kickers Cade Foster and Jeremy Shelley, that means one less element to adversely affect a field goal attempt. “I think it will help those guys and make a difference for them,” said Leigh Tiffin, UA’s former three-year starter who knows as well as anyone what kicking at Bryant-Denny pre-expansion was like. Continue Reading >>

Defense improves in second scrimmage

“There’s a lot of things that we can learn from this scrimmage,” coach Nick Saban told reporters. “There’s a lot of situational mistakes made that players are going to learn from. Hopefully they can all learn from it and we’ll continue to get better.” Saban said the scrimmage mimicked a game more closely than the Tide’s first scrimmage last week. Senior quarterback Greg McElroy, who led a passing bonanza last week, had reduced numbers. He was 10-for-18 for 134 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, according to statistics provided by the school. Redshirt freshman Eddie Lacy was the leading rusher with 61 yards on 15 carries. “I think the No. 1 thing we wanted to get from scrimmage 1 to scrimmage 2 was to improve as a team,” Saban said. “I think we made some improvement. Certainly not disappointed in the improvement that we made as a team. “At the same time, we’re not satisfied with where we’d like to be. We need to focus on continued improvement.” Continue Reading >>